Armenian version of the ot

The following points need discussion as regards the Armenian OT. i. The text from which it was translatea. ii. Its value for critical purposes, iii. Its date, and where it was made. iv. Its contents, and order of books. i. The Arm. OT is a version of the Gr. LXX, the text of which it everywhere fits closely as a flove the hand that wears it.

This statement has een controverted ; * but its truth is apparent if we anywhere open the Peshitta or Massora and, noting their peculiarities, look for them in the Armenian. Let us test it then by a few cases where the Syriac Peshitta varies from the LXX ; but where the LXX is exactly rendered by the Arm., the sense of which I occasionally add within squara brackets. Qn 11 «s«s ccbII et esse terra. — ^ deserts et inculta [InvisibUia 6t non preparata].

— 6 et fuit divisit^ue (et eit dividere] — o om. Ka,\ iyxtiT itivmt. — ' ym. « tfi«f after diixw^"i'. — (m. saw i'3i» « fio( erj ««x«r. — 0 in locum unum — ^ om, umi rvt^x^ s far as Go 2U> Kacem et Oedar (Cades et Bur)— alt. Gedar (in Oerarlj and so in v.aj. — populum ijinocenteni (ignorantem et iustuiu]. — fi En ipse (nonne ipse) — ^ oin. niihl ajter dixit-— on, sed ego be/ore in siniplicitate. — 8 cohibui te (peperci tibi). — ' om. vix b^'ore propheta. — s om, omnes btj&re homines.

Kx 181 Jetbron [lotbor] — Median (Madian) — Deiis Mod [DoininuB M.) — add. Kilios h^frrt Israel. —, add. flUom suam. — 3 tJt-rson (Uersam) — quoniam dixcrul [dicit], m^ om. et ascende ad me in niontem. — ^ in manu sua (secum). — ^ stetit ibi cum eo [8tetit<jue coram eo ibij— nomen boo, Dominus [in nomen Domini]. Lv 30> add. ad eum— Dicito fllUs Israel [loquers ad fllios I. dices).

— 3 et ex iis (re/ de lis] — proieccrit ex semine suo in alienigenam [dederit semen suum principi, and eo in W^] — 2 add, vir eius modi. — 3 dabo furorem [stuluam faciem] — sanctu arium [sanctitatc-m]— sanctitatis meat (Hunctillcatorum mcorum). Nu 3(ii capita patrum familiie (principes tribus flliurum},, Gelood [GalaodJ — de familia Manasse filii losejih [defaui. til. los.] — ma^-natibus oongregationis, capitibus patrum flliorum (prin cipibus doraorum patriarcharum til.] lit ill!

Abiens igitur Moees, locutus est [et consummavit H. loqul) — ad nniversum Israelem [ad omnes fUios Israel] — ^ add. Jos 221 Itubil [Ruben]. — 3 vo« custodlstis fvosmet audistis]. — ■tis fvi Alius — et Dominus [nam D.l. ten].— >i 3 ecce raultis abbliic diehus [tot dies] — ad pnusentem usque diem, et custoditis (immo plus us^pie hixlie tenii>ori8 cust.] — * add. nuandtxiuidem — Deus (D.

noster] — revtrtunini erk'o et abit« ad civitales veslraa (nunc igitur revertent^^s rc<htc in domus vestros) — quani pooedistls [possesaionis vestnu ]—ati(i. ab oriento. 2 Ch b3> Secundum oper« (de omnibus abominatlonlbus) — Isnuilitarum (fliiorum Israel). — * reawlincavlt enim [et revertJl et aMlincavit), -a]taria idolis (statuas Boalimm). Fabricavit tigres [fecit \ticoa]— add. et adoravit eas — omnes 0(b11 copias (omnem putenliain cmli). I'H llif am. i> ^Vo.

— Populus tuus laudabllls (-with thee It the beginning}— sanctitatis {sanctorum tuorum]— «b antiquo t« • E.g. Dr. Ars'ak Ter MIkelian (DU Armmuehe Kirdu, Leipzig. I81I2) writes, p. 35 : ■ Die Hiichcr dcs Allen Testaments konnen unniuglich aus den LX.X iibursetzt warden sein ' 152 AEMENIAN VEKSION AEMENIAN VEKSION Syrlac Version. Vae diripienti : voa ne dlripiatis, et deceptornequa- quam decipiet vos, cum volueritis diripere, diri- pieuiini.

Doinine miserere noatri, quoniam in te est flducia nostra : esto adiutor noBtcr in matutino, et salva ooe In tempore anj^ustiaB. L fliiura zenui [ante Ludferum genui te].—* non raentietur (non ppnitebit eum)— sicut Melchizedec [ = ' according to the order o( M.')— • implebit cadavera [ = ' be maketb many the blows'] lass- Armenian Version. Woe unto those who distress you. but yourselves no one can distress : and he that despiseth, despiseth not you.

For the}' shall be given over unto defeat who despise you, and like the moth upon the garment, so shall they be given over to de- feat. Lord, pity us ; for in thee have we hoped. The seed of the unfaithful hath come to destruction ; but our salvation Is in thee in tune of straits. In all these cases the Ann. is faithful, as against the Syr., to the LXX. In spite of tliis general con- formity, however, there are numerous cases in which the Arm. supplies omissions of the LXX ; e.g.

Is dtp runs thus in the Arm. : ' But the law- less who offers to me an ox as ofiering [is just as if one should smite the head of a man, and he that offers the sheep as offering] is just as if one should slaughter a dog.' Here the words bracketed have droptout of the ordinary LXX text ; but they were added to the LXX text by Sym. and Theod. In Jeremiah the traces of correction by direct or indirect use of the Massoretic or Syr. texts are fregiient, e.g. eh. IG- the Arm.

=et ne gignantur tibi filii et filise. In v. it = sed in exeraplum erunt super faciem terrae. In gladio cadent et in fame consummabuntur. Et erunt cadavera eorum in cibum volatilibus coeli et bestiis terroe. In the above the plural gignantur . . filii et filife in v.', and in v.'' exemplum, belong to the LXX ; but the arrangement of clauses in v., as also the addi- tion cadavera eorum, are due to the Syr. or to the Massora. It may be noticed that Jerome, wlio con- sulted the Heb.

text, combines it with the LXX in just the same way, only reading with the Heb. tlerquilinium for exemplum. In order to demon- strate this composite cliaracter of the Arm. text, I give a collation with Tischendorf's text of ch. 23. Wherever the variants of the Armenian reflect the Massoretic or Syr. texts, or both, I add M or S or SM. Jer 231 ,iT^,] .\Tm.€n : men SM— ibid. add. nr) Kip,,, SM. — » Kv^(Of Qtai 'Itf-^at^XSM — iw't rcijt wottjLt^eLt T*uf wot^iM,,»ofrx«